Colorado lacrosse championships preview

For the Arapahoe (Centennial) boys lacrosse team, the postseason largely has been a revisit to the most difficult games of the regular season.

To this point, the Warriors have passed with flying colors and now will face their biggest challenge yet: top-seeded Regis Jesuit (Aurora). The teams will meet Friday night at Mile High Stadium in the Class 5A championship game (7:30 p.m.).

"Each one of the opponents we've played – Kent Denver, Mullen and Mountain Vista – have been great teams to play against," Arapahoe coach Logan Bobzien said. "We're just fortunate our boys are starting to get a little more focused here in the playoffs. I think they did learn from those earlier games and they've been able to go out and execute at a high level."

In the first round, No. 3 Arapahoe (15-3) dispatched Kent Denver (Cherry Hills Village) 12-6, improving from a narrow 16-12 win against the Sun Devils in the regular season. Next was an 8-4 win against Mullen (Denver) in the quarterfinals, which was far more comfortable than an 11-10 regular-season victory against the Mustangs.

Arapahoe upped the ante Wednesday with a 9-8 win against No. 2 Mountain Vista (Highlands Ranch) in which they withstood a shot off the post in the waning seconds. The Warriors had fallen to the Golden Eagles 14-11 less than two weeks prior. Now it's on to Regis Jesuit (16-2), which defeated Arapahoe 7-4 on April 5.

"They're a phenomenal team," Bobzien said. "They obviously have such a great goalkeeper in Braden Host and their defense is one of the best in the state. We just have to play our game and take advantage of our opportunities."

Arapahoe has gotten prime production from senior Keenan Moffitt, who has racked up 41 goals and 12 assists. Sophomores Ryan Carlson (26 goals) also Riley Moynihan (23) have been prominent offensively and sophomore goalie Ethan Ferrie has been exceedingly solid.

Regis Jesuit's balanced offense is led by a quarter of seniors – Mikey Bealer, Joey Chott, Alec Barnes and Cole Boland – and the Raiders have gotten staunch goaltending from Host. The junior allows a stingy 3.7 goals per game and has not surrendered more than eight in any game.

In Class 4A, Dawson School (Lafayette) is on a warpath for the school's initial title in the sport. The Mustangs (17-1), who will take on Valor Christian (Highlands Ranch) at Mile High Stadium (5 p.m.), have won 15 straight and have not dropped an in-state contest. They edged Valor Christian 14-11 during the regular season.

"We are playing well in all facets of the game at this point in the season," Mustangs coach Peter Devlin said. "The coaches have been very pleased with our offense and defense as well as our faceoff play and riding and clearing games. The players are playing with a lot of effort and competing every moment."

The Mustangs boast four top-flight scorers in sophomore Gavyn Pure (66 goals, 57 assists), senior Jesse Rosenblatt (53 and 35), senior Wyatt Watts (50 and 27) and sophomore Hunter Watts (41 and 15).

"We have a balanced scoring attack on offense and we have a lot of unselfish players on our team," Devlin said. "They enjoy the team game and sharing the ball. Our intention is to move the ball fast and find the matchups that favor our dodgers, regardless of which of our players it is. Fast ball movement tends to put a lot of pressure on opposing defenses."

Valor Christian (14-4) carries an 11-game winning streak into the contest and has six players who have contributed more than 20 goals. Sophomore Garrett Ziegler leads the way with 28 goals, and freshman Lance Tillman leads the Eagles in points with 66. Freshman goalie Aiden Columbia has yielded double-digit goals only twice.

On the girls side, the bracket has contained no large-scale surprises, as the top four seeds advanced to the semifinals. Top-seeded Colorado Academy (Denver) will take on No. 4 Kent Denver (Englewood) while No. 2 Mullen (Denver) will square off No. 3 Cherry Creek (Greenwood Village) in the other semifinal Saturday at the University of Denver. The winners will meet in the title game Wednesday.

Colorado Academy (16-0) is looking for its second straight title after defeating Cherry Creek 8-3 in last season's championship game. The Mustangs first will have to get past a Kent Denver (12-3) squad that will be aiming to rebound from a 14-5 loss to the Mustangs in the regular season.

Cherry Creek (16-1) has been in every championship game since the sport was sanctioned by CHSAA in 1998 – and the Bruins have won 10 of them – but they'll have to get past the one team that has defeated them this season. Mullen (14-3) got past the Bruins 9-7 at the Stutler Bowl on May 7. The Mustangs boast a sizzling pair of scorers in seniors Ali Vanek (61 goals) and Payton Gabriel (59).